A non-steady-state compartmental model of global-scale mercury biogeochemistry with interhemispheric atmospheric gradients

Lamborg, Carl H.; Fitzgerald, William F.; O’Donnell, James; Torgersen, T.

doi:10.1016/s0016-7037(01)00841-9

Cited by 266 publications

(220 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…[102] However, even in the global environment, our understanding of marine Hg biogeochemistry is limited by under-sampling and understudy. [2] It may be assumed that the basic components of the marine Hg cycle as understood from temperate ocean studies [3,45,69,103] can be applied to the Arctic Ocean, with the caveat that the rates and relative importance of many processes will differ. Hg biogeochemistry in the Arctic Ocean appears to exhibit significant differences compared to temperate ocean basins.…”

Section: Microbial Carbon Processing and Mercury In The Arcticmentioning

confidence: 99%

The fate of mercury in Arctic terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, a review

Douglas

Loseto²,

Macdonald³

et al. 2012

Environ. Chem.

123

147

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Environmental context. Mercury, in its methylated form, is a neurotoxin that biomagnifies in marine and terrestrial foodwebs leading to elevated levels in fish and fish-eating mammals worldwide, including at numerous Arctic locations. Elevated mercury concentrations in Arctic country foods present a significant exposure risk to Arctic people. We present a detailed review of the fate of mercury in Arctic terrestrial and marine ecosystems, taking into account the extreme seasonality of Arctic ecosystems and the unique processes associated with sea ice and Arctic hydrology.Abstract. This review is the result of a series of multidisciplinary meetings organised by the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme as part of their 2011 Assessment 'Mercury in the Arctic'. This paper presents the state-of-the-art knowledge on the environmental fate of mercury following its entry into the Arctic by oceanic, atmospheric and terrestrial pathways. Our focus is on the movement, transformation and bioaccumulation of Hg in aquatic (marine and fresh water) and terrestrial ecosystems. The processes most relevant to biological Hg uptake and the potential risk associated with Hg exposure in wildlife are emphasised. We present discussions of the chemical transformations of newly deposited or transported Hg in marine, fresh water and terrestrial environments and of the movement of Hg from air, soil and water environmental compartments into food webs. Methylation, a key process controlling the fate of Hg in most ecosystems, and the role of trophic processes in controlling Hg in higher order animals are also included. Case studies on Eastern Beaufort Sea beluga (Delphinapterus leucas) and landlocked Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) are presented as examples of the relationship between ecosystem trophic processes and biologic Hg levels. We examine whether atmospheric mercury depletion events (AMDEs) contribute to increased Hg levels in Arctic biota and provide information on the links between organic carbon and Hg speciation, dynamics and bioavailability. Long-term sequestration of Hg into non-biological archives is also addressed. The review concludes by identifying major knowledge gaps in our understanding, including:(1) the rates of Hg entry into marine and terrestrial ecosystems and the rates of inorganic and MeHg uptake by Arctic microbial and algal communities; (2) the bioavailable fraction of AMDE-related Hg and its rate of accumulation by biota and (3) the fresh water and marine MeHg cycle in the Arctic, especially the marine MeHg cycle.

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Section: Microbial Carbon Processing and Mercury In The Arcticmentioning

confidence: 99%

The fate of mercury in Arctic terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, a review

Douglas

Loseto²,

Macdonald³

et al. 2012

Environ. Chem.

123

147

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The levels of TGM concentration are different in ambient air, range of 1-3 ng/m 3 , 3-5 ng/m 3 , and > 5 ng/m 3 in the rural, urban, and industrial regions, respectively, while its background concentrations are typically ranged from 1.6 to 1.8 ng/m 3 in the Northern Hemisphere and from 1.1 to 1.4 ng/m 3 in the Southern Hemisphere (Keeler et al, 1995;Baker et al, 2002;Lamborg et al, 2002;Jen et al, 2010;Sheu et al, 2010;Jen et al, 2012). The variations of meteorological parameters and criteria air pollutant concentrations could increase or decrease the TGM concentration and its chemical composition (Feng et al, 2002;Sheu et al, 2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Field Measurement of Total Gaseous Mercury and Its Correlation with Meteorological Parameters and Criteria Air Pollutants at a Coastal Site of the Penghu Islands

Jen

Chen

Hung

et al. 2014

Aerosol Air Qual. Res.

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This study investigated the seasonal and daily variations of the total gaseous mercury (TGM) concentration in the ambient atmosphere, the correlation of TGM concentration with meteorological parameters (e.g., temperature, humidity, and wind speed) and criteria air pollutant concentrations (e.g., SO 2 , NO x , CO, O 3 , PM 10 , and PM 2.5 ), as well as the transportation routes, at the Penghu Islands. The field measurement results showed that the average TGM concentration during the monitoring period was 3.17 ± 1.17 ng/m 3 , within the range of 1.17-8.63 ng/m 3 , with the highest concentration being observed in spring, while the TGM concentration typically increased in the morning, reached its peak concentration, and then started to decrease at nightfall. Moreover, the lowest average TGM concentration of 1.81 ± 0.15 ng/m 3 was observed in summer, and this figure is close to the background TGM concentration of the Northern Hemisphere (1.6-1.8 ng/m 3 ). The correlation analysis indicated that TGM concentration correlated positively with SO 2 , NO x , CO, O 3 , PM 10 , PM 2.5 and negatively with ambient temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed. In addition, the transportation route analysis showed that elevated TGM concentrations could be transported from either North China, East China, or South China to the Penghu Islands, while those originating from the South China Sea had the lowest contribution to the TGM levels at the Penghu Islands. Therefore, local sources and open burning might be mainly influenced by the long-range transportation of air masses, as the prevailing wind direction and air mass transportation routes potentially play critical roles in the variation of TGM concentration at the Penghu Islands.

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“…The anthropogenic Hg flux is of the same order (2200-4000 Mg yr −1 ; Selin, 2009;Pirrone et al, 2009); the most significant of these flux sources is coal combustion, but metal production, waste incineration and artisanal gold mining are also important (Mason, 2009). The total atmospheric burden of Hg has more than doubled from~1600 to 1800 Mg in pre-anthropogenic times (Mason et al, 1994;Lamborg et al, 2002) to~5000 Mg at the present day (Selin et al, 2008) due to these industrial activities. This significant increase in atmospheric Hg is reflected in archives such as lake sediments, peat bogs and ice records which show a 2-to 4-fold increase in the past 150 years (Lindberg et al, 2007;Farmer et al, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rapid oxidation of mercury (Hg) at volcanic vents: Insights from high temperature thermodynamic models of Mt Etna's emissions

et al. 2011

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A major uncertainty regarding the environmental impacts of volcanic Hg is the extent to which Hg is deposited locally or transported globally. An important control on dispersion and deposition is the oxidation state of Hg compounds: Hg(0) is an inert, insoluble gas, while Hg(II) occurs as reactive gases or in particles, which deposit rapidly and proximally, near the volcanic vent. Using a new high temperature thermodynamic model, we show that although Hg in Etna's magmatic gases is almost entirely Hg(0) (i.e., gaseous elemental mercury), significant quantities of Hg(II) are likely formed at Etna's vents as gaseous HgCl 2 , when magmatic gases are cooled and oxidised by atmospheric gases. These results contrast with an earlier model study and allow us to explain recent measurements of Hg speciation at the crater rim of Etna without invoking rapid (b 1 min) low temperature oxidation processes. We further model Hg speciation for a series of additional magmatic gas compositions. Compared to Etna, Hg(II) production (i.e., Hg(II)/Hg tot ) is enhanced in more HCl-rich magmatic gases, but is independent of the Hg, HBr and HI content of the magmatic gases. Hg(II) production is not strongly influenced by the initial oxidation state of magmatic gases above NNO, although production is hindered in more reduced magmatic gases. The model and results are widely applicable to other open-vent volcanoes and may be used to improve the accuracy of chemical kinetic models for low temperature Hg speciation in volcanic plumes.

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A non-steady-state compartmental model of global-scale mercury biogeochemistry with interhemispheric atmospheric gradients

Cited by 266 publications

References 52 publications

The fate of mercury in Arctic terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, a review

The fate of mercury in Arctic terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, a review

Field Measurement of Total Gaseous Mercury and Its Correlation with Meteorological Parameters and Criteria Air Pollutants at a Coastal Site of the Penghu Islands

Rapid oxidation of mercury (Hg) at volcanic vents: Insights from high temperature thermodynamic models of Mt Etna's emissions

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